With the advent of targeted advertising and personalized delivery of multimedia services to a user, the ability to identify a multimedia consumer has become even more important. Content and service providers continue to search for a simple yet accurate method for determining who is viewing a particular display device at a given time. Currently a viewer may be identified based on the content that is being delivered to a display device. For example, targeted advertising may be geared toward children when content associated with children is being delivered to the display device. However, content type is not always an accurate mechanism for determining who is currently viewing a display device. For example, there are plenty of types of content that are gender and age neutral.
Currently customer premise equipment (CPE) devices such as a set-top box (STB) may be configured to provide personalized interfaces, guides, and/or services based on the user that is currently accessing content from the device. For example, certain features (e.g., parental control) and guide options (e.g., favorites list) may be enabled through a STB when the STB is informed as to who is currently accessing content from the STB. However, currently, a user must inform the STB of the user's identity in order to enable these personalized features, and it is likely that a user will access a STB without updating the identity of the current STB user. Therefore, it is desirable to improve upon methods and systems for identifying a viewer of a display device.
Like reference numbers and designations in the various drawings indicate like elements.